Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property

"Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property" is a brief, one-hour documentary about the historically significant Nat Turner. It is known that he led a brief and bloody slave revolt in 1831 in South Hampton County, Virginia. What we find out from this documentary, narrated by Alfre Woodard, is that there is extremely little historic fact about Nat Turner outside of his revolt. All the books, movies, and otherwise about him that exist are all interpretive pieces. The only existing source material is the "confession" from Nat Turner given to the lawyer who interviewed him after his capture in October of 1831. Those apocryphal words have since been twisted and turned, for better or worse, into various stories about Nat Turner to suit the storyteller.

"A Troublesome Property" consists of interviews from writers, historians, actors, and activists all giving their opinions about Nat Turner and the works that exist about Nat Turner. I think this documentary is fair in that it brings together disparate opinions about the man and his final actions. I wish there was more to tell, but I'd prefer a short truth than a long lie.